I know a lot of you were curious
COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri Head Tennis Coach Colt Gaston has resigned to pursue other opportunities, Mizzou Director of Athletics Jim Sterk announced today.
“I would like to thank Colt for all of his hard work and dedication in building our women’s tennis program over the last five seasons,” Sterk said. “As the SEC’s most northern school, we have challenges, but he worked hard to overcome those and put our student-athletes in position to succeed academically and athletically, and we wish him well as he moves on to the next chapter in his life.”
Gaston joined the Mizzou staff as an assistant coach for the 2015-16 season, Mizzou’s best campaign in more than a decade, before being elevated to associate head coach and eventually being promoted to head coach for the 2016-17 season. In four seasons as head coach, he posted a 46-53 (.465) overall record, and with the exception of the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 campaign, the program’s win total improved each year. In his rookie season, Mizzou registered wins over No. 33 and No. 17 Texas A&M, the latter marking the highest ranked opponent the Tigers have ever beaten.
The Tigers also achieved great success in the classroom under Gaston’s guidance, posting the highest team GPA (3.77) in program history over the fall 2019 semester. Mizzou also earned the ITA All-Academic Team honor in each of his first three seasons as head coach, and 14 Tigers earned ITA Scholar-Athlete distinction and 23 garnered SEC Academic Honor Roll recognition during his tenure.
“It has been an honor to serve as Mizzou’s head coach the past four seasons, but earlier today I informed my staff and players that I have decided to resign as Mizzou’s tennis coach to pursue other opportunities, effective immediately,” Gaston said. “It was a very difficult decision to make, as I’ve poured my heart and soul into making this program the best it can possibly be. However, I believe this decision is the best for me personally. I want to thank Jim Sterk for taking a chance on me and the community for its support. Mizzou will always hold a special place in my heart.”
A native of Rome, Ga., Gaston was a four-year letterwinner in tennis at LSU, earning second-team All-SEC honors in 2006, followed by achieving ITA Doubles-All American in 2007. Gaston also played professionally as a member of the Dunlop ATP traveling squad ranking in the ATP top 500 rankings. Prior to launching his collegiate coaching career with Furman’s men’s program in 2014, he served as a High Performance Coach at Weil Tennis Academy in Ojai, Calif., and as an ATP/WTA traveling coach for two players who ranked in the Top 100 world rankings.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri Head Tennis Coach Colt Gaston has resigned to pursue other opportunities, Mizzou Director of Athletics Jim Sterk announced today.
“I would like to thank Colt for all of his hard work and dedication in building our women’s tennis program over the last five seasons,” Sterk said. “As the SEC’s most northern school, we have challenges, but he worked hard to overcome those and put our student-athletes in position to succeed academically and athletically, and we wish him well as he moves on to the next chapter in his life.”
Gaston joined the Mizzou staff as an assistant coach for the 2015-16 season, Mizzou’s best campaign in more than a decade, before being elevated to associate head coach and eventually being promoted to head coach for the 2016-17 season. In four seasons as head coach, he posted a 46-53 (.465) overall record, and with the exception of the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 campaign, the program’s win total improved each year. In his rookie season, Mizzou registered wins over No. 33 and No. 17 Texas A&M, the latter marking the highest ranked opponent the Tigers have ever beaten.
The Tigers also achieved great success in the classroom under Gaston’s guidance, posting the highest team GPA (3.77) in program history over the fall 2019 semester. Mizzou also earned the ITA All-Academic Team honor in each of his first three seasons as head coach, and 14 Tigers earned ITA Scholar-Athlete distinction and 23 garnered SEC Academic Honor Roll recognition during his tenure.
“It has been an honor to serve as Mizzou’s head coach the past four seasons, but earlier today I informed my staff and players that I have decided to resign as Mizzou’s tennis coach to pursue other opportunities, effective immediately,” Gaston said. “It was a very difficult decision to make, as I’ve poured my heart and soul into making this program the best it can possibly be. However, I believe this decision is the best for me personally. I want to thank Jim Sterk for taking a chance on me and the community for its support. Mizzou will always hold a special place in my heart.”
A native of Rome, Ga., Gaston was a four-year letterwinner in tennis at LSU, earning second-team All-SEC honors in 2006, followed by achieving ITA Doubles-All American in 2007. Gaston also played professionally as a member of the Dunlop ATP traveling squad ranking in the ATP top 500 rankings. Prior to launching his collegiate coaching career with Furman’s men’s program in 2014, he served as a High Performance Coach at Weil Tennis Academy in Ojai, Calif., and as an ATP/WTA traveling coach for two players who ranked in the Top 100 world rankings.
